White Deer
by Jabberwocky Kid
Summary: Dr. Crane, while working through his normal batch of patients, meets the innocent Daniel White. A dark obsession blooms for the younger man, and he's too naive to see it. Being a patient himself at Dr. Crane's institution doesn't help matters either.
1. Prologue

Dr. Crane's morning routine was meticulous with its own controlled amount of messiness, or, rather, disorder. Take medication, drink a bottle of water, piss, shower, dress, eat breakfast (if there's anything to eat), tend to oral hygiene, and go. There were a few loose ends of the morning, however. Small things. Sometimes his outfit wouldn't match how we wanted it to and he'd have to change, sometimes he ran out of shampoo but not out of conditioner. Occasionally the water heater was broken in the apartment building.

All of these things related to the building itself did not bother him. He would own a house soon enough. His boss, Ra's, was going to pay for him to live in a more secluded part of Gotham that would supply him with the privacy and space he needed to work on his formulas and research. It would also serve as a place to hide in the event he was found out for who he was. Or what he was.

Scarecrow.

Only known to patients of Arkham; the ones sent in by Falcone and the ones unlucky enough to be too deep in their own insanity to be able to voice their abuse. Never patients under his own care. He would often only choose patients who were self admitted and not very insane at all. Easy cases; they were in, consulted, and out in a month at least. The passing thoughts reminded him that he had a new patient today.

He memorized the basic information when he received the file yesterday; Daniel White. Age 19, registered nurse. Jonathan was impressed, but not surprised. He heard of young people becoming nurses thanks to advanced vocational programs. He must've been a smart kid. Daniel had a nervous breakdown while working at a private practice office. He was self admitted two days ago. No suicidal tendencies detected, but a history of anxiety that was treated with mild anti-depressants. So, it was simple. Find out the stressor for his breakdown, destroy the link between that item and his psyche. Up his dosage a bit, schedule for an appointment later, and send him on his way. He'd come back, lower his dosage back to it's usual amount, and move on to another patient. Easy, yet productive, which allowed him more time to spend in his other affairs. As administrator of Arkham, he still had a duty to fulfill. He was, after all, a practicing psychiatrist, and a damn good one.

He would drive to work, maybe exchange pleasantries with the guard who patrolled the complex in the morning shift. He'd arrive at work an hour early to check the basement progress. He'd then settle down in his office and set to work. The messiness in this lied in the basement. By the time he was settled down in his office, it was 8:00AM. His appointment with Daniel was 9:00AM, Cordelia Foxx, 11:30AM; lunch, 1:00PM to 1:30PM; Leland Palmer, 2:00PM; Abigail Hobbes, 3:30PM, and finally, Hugo Reyes, at 4:45PM. He was off work by 6:00PM. He'd go down into the basement, check on progress and work on his research extensively and thoroughly, then pack his things and head either home or to carry out business on Ra's behalf. On his way home, maybe he brought food or went to the grocery store. Perhaps even get the gas tank filled up. When finally home, he'd maybe eat dinner, maybe watch the news, then go to bed.

Like clockwork. Everyday, give or take a doctor's appointment or taking his car to the shop when necessary, and other mundane tasks. Jonathan Crane was very precise, and kept his schedule under any means necessary. At the moment, it was 8:54AM. He already alerted his secretary and told her to have an orderly escort Mr. White to his office.


	2. Family

"Dr. Crane? Mr. White is here for his 9:00AM appointment. Shall I send him in?" his secretary asked, her voice scratched and distorted over the tabletop intercom. He pressed on the bottom to connect his microphone to her phone.

"Send him in."

There was silence. Jonathan stood out of courtesy and straightened his coat, then placed his hands behind his back. The door opened, an orderly stood to the side and let the young man through. He finally got a good look at his patient and found him aesthetically pleasing, but it was a mere side note to be abandoned to the back of his mind. He glanced at the orderly's ID and nodded to him.

"Thank you, Gerard. I'll take things from here."

They were left alone. Crane stretched out his hand, and Daniel took it. He couldn't help but notice how soft his hands were, especially for someone in the medical field.

"Please, Daniel, take a seat. As I'm sure you know, my name is Dr. Jonathan Crane. I'm the administrator here, but I'm also a doctor, in practice. I've taken up your case and I have high hopes that we will find the root of your breakdown and sever it. In order for us to do this, we'll need to go more in depth in your childhood and analyze factors surrounding your life, as well as how you feel. If in our sessions you ever feel uncomfortable by a topic, please, don't be afraid to let me know."

A distorted, dark voice in the back of Jonathan's mind muttered almost incoherently:

_I want to know..._

It then retreated back into the dark it was birthed within.

"Oh, thanks Dr. Crane. It's really, um, comforting to know I'm in the hands of someone accredited," he smiled softly. Jonathan returned the smile.

"Now, is there any place you feel comfortable beginning? The earlier in your life, the better. It can be about anything that affected you in any way."

"Um...the earliest, meaningful thing that comes to mind is...when I got a new doctor, in f...fourth grade, yeah. I had the same one all my life up until that point, and this one performed from a hospital. Consequently, it was the first time I had ever been to a hospital. I needed to go to the bathroom and my mom was busy with paperwork, and I got lost. I walked in on invasive surgery, I later found out it was a heart transplant. I passed out, was taken to my doctor, and my mom had to go through more paperwork."

"How did you react when you walked in on the procedure? Before you passed out."

"I was...confused," he chuckled lightly. "As soon as I opened the door, one of the surgical techs was running up to me. She had a scalpel in her hand and a little bit of blood on her, and- I...it wasn't very scary, more like...overwhelming. When I told my mom about it, she thought my lack of fear meant I could have a future in the medical field. Maybe she was wrong."

"Having a nervous breakdown while working has nothing to do with your environment. If it didn't happen during schooling or in work in the past, it's only logical that it isn't related to what occurred recently. Don't worry, Daniel. This has nothing to do with your capabilities in the medical field. Now, did you have a father growing up?"

"Partially. My dad died when I was two. My mother started dating my now stepdad, Kyle, when I was fifteen."

"Tell me about them."

"Ah...um, well-"

"Does it make you uncomfortable to talk about them?"

"No, no. My mom is a psychiatrist. She's in private practice in Midtown Gotham. She's nice, really, but...kind of cold. Distant. I think it's because her job requires to be that way, and she keeps her psychiatrist's demeanor on so she can tell when something's wrong," he shrugged, glancing out the window.

"What about Kyle? Can you tell me about him?"

"Kyle is pretty nice. He's an FBI agent. I used to be kind of...scared of him, I guess."

"Why?" he asked, perhaps a bit to quickly.

"He's unnaturally happy, is a way to put it. I mean, he's always happy. Anything could go wrong and he's there with a smile and a thumbs up. Not inappropriately, I mean, not at funerals...but you get the idea."

"Do you know why this scared you?"

"I thought it was unnatural. Like it was a bad façade he was using to get close to me, or my mom, and do something bad."

_Do something bad...? Innocent boy..._

"How are holidays? Do you spend them with your mother and step father?"

"Oh, yeah. I don't have anywhere else to go... Well, that sounded more depressing than I meant it," he chuckled.

Jonathan chuckled to alleviate some of the tension visible in the boy.

"Would you say that your family functions healthily? Do you feel comfortable with them?"

"Y..." Daniel nodded, beginning to say yes, but his nod soon turned into a light shake of the head. He looked down at his hands in his lap. "I don't know. Like I said, my mom is pretty cold. And Kyle is a little too out there for me to be able to communicate with him. But we all get along. I don't feel comfortable talking to my mom about every aspect of my life, or enough like a son should talk to his mother, because her clinical nature makes me uncomfortable. I don't want to tell her that. I don't want her to feel obligated to change or feel bad in any way. I mean, I'm comfortable enough being with them. And I can function with them fine. Just..." he trailed off and, finding no words to say, shrugged and averted his gaze back to the window.

"I forgot to tell you," he began, "I'm, uh, gay. I came out to my parents when I was 16, 3 years ago. They were completely accepting of it. That counts for something, right?"

"Of course. It's important for people we are close to accept us, especially for things as important to us as sexuality and sexual identity."

"Yeah, exactly! So, um, do you think the breakdown is connected to something from my family?"

"It's too soon to tell. Our session for the day is coming to a close, Mr. White." Dr. Crane said, standing. Daniel stood as well.

"Please, doctor, call me Daniel," he smiled sweetly, standing as well. The two slowly made their way to the door.

"Very well, Daniel. Next time we'll discuss something else. Considering how well this session went, perhaps I'll schedule it for upcoming Thursday. Is that okay?"

"Yes, whatever works for you. And, thank you, again. For all you're doing for me," he said, eyes brimming with sincerity and innocence. Dr. Crane put his hand on Daniel's upper back to gently guide him towards the door.

"It's not a problem, Daniel. Now, I trust your accommodations are satisfactory?"

"Oh...w...yes, yes. Very good."

"Excellent. Please, do not hesitate to ask for anything from our faculty," Dr. Crane smiled, handing him over to the orderly, Gerard.

"See you next time, Dr. Crane!" he called back as he left the office.

Jonathan waited until he was out of sight before closing the door and taking his seat behind his deck. He checked the time and confirmed with his secretary that it was time to send in Mrs. Foxx. This would be his second session with her, and he knew it'd only be a matter of days before she panicked and left. According to her and her file, she ran a school for girls in the South, and he could already tell that running it and having a baby were her only drives in life. He gave it 15 days maximum before she left to return to the school to 'check up on things.'

During the following sessions of the day, he found himself missing the cooperation and appreciation he received for his work from Daniel.


End file.
